political perspectives from Joni Hudson-Reynolds, an African-American Mom

Trump has already won the debate even if he is not on the stage

Today the lead off story on every network has been the Trump story, and why should this be any different than any other day. King Trump rules the airwaves. They bow and defer to his demands and when they dare to not he threatens to withdraw his presence. How did this happen? The media elite are all acting surprised but how can they be when they helped create this situation. They invited the King to be on their shows. They did not even demand his presence. His voice was enough to make them swoon. When have you seen any other presidential candidate call in to so many shows. They let him control the conversation. He would talk over the questioners and refuse to answer any questions that might really demand a reasoned, thoughtful response. He has run the show because he is true entertainment, and the ratings numbers bear him out. It’s been coming for a long time. 2016 might be remembered as the last election cycle to even bother with debates. The original premise was for voters to learn more about the candidates as they weighed their decisions, but over the years candidates seem to spend more time with their spin doctors than their policy experts. The audience now seem more interested in learning who landed the zinger or who fell prey to the “gotcha” question. Yes, I believe we are witnessing the end of an era. We live in a Snapchat world and very few people are interested in much more. We live in a world that simply wants to be entertained and Trump is entertaining. So if he is not on that stage tomorrow night there will be no show, and he candidates might be forced to actually have a debate.